Transforming Corporate Banking: Building Smarter Deals
Two decades ago, planning a travel vacation was a time-consuming process, involving a thorough exploration of guidebooks and collation of brochures from travel agencies. Fast forward to the present, most people rely on AI assistants to plan their vacations, including routes, pricing, and reviews, all compiled into a single, straightforward itinerary.
However, the corporate banking sector still functions in the manner that vacation planning used to. Despite having the largest banks at their disposal, businesses must navigate intricate, multi-product deals via spreadsheets, PDFs, and lengthy email threads scattered across various systems and regions. The information required exists but is seldom connected. This disconnect leads to prolonged deal times, errors, and dissatisfied clients.
Fragmentation: The Root of the Problem
The issue at hand is not the lack of ambition; it’s fragmentation. Over time, systems have expanded by product, geography, and acquisition, resulting in isolated operation of pricing tools, risk models, and client data hubs. Data re-entry becomes a tedious, repetitive task; approvals get lost in a sea of inboxes, and audit trails disappear. The effect of this fragmentation is lost revenue and a compliance process that slows down operations instead of streamlining them.
Unifying the Deal Process
Successful banks are adopting a simple strategy: consolidating deal management. Instead of scattered systems, they are creating connected layers that integrate data, pricing, and approvals into a single viewpoint. This approach allows bankers to price accurately, act swiftly, and adhere to policies without having to switch between platforms. Consequently, every term and rate can be tailored to the client, jurisdiction, and market conditions, reducing the time taken for multi-product deal modelling, outcome simulation, and internal approval from days to mere hours.
Data is a crucial part of this transformation – bankers need up-to-the-minute information, such as current exposures, market rates, and client behaviour, to make informed decisions. Live data allows them to confidently assess risk and profitability, while governance rules ensure consistency across regions.
Artificial Intelligence: The Silent Support
AI plays a silent yet significant role in this process. Practical applications of AI, such as recommendation tools that suggest structures based on past successes or simulations that test profitability before an approval request is made, are most effective. Compliance rules embedded in AI can automatically apply local regulations, while tracking ensures that the client is billed as per the agreed terms. Every approval, decision, and exception are logged and traceable, providing valuable transparency to supervisors and clients alike in a tightly regulated market.
The Transition from Automation to Autonomy
The aim is not to eliminate the role of bankers through automation but to provide them with better control and insight. A unified layer enables customisation of deals without increasing manual work. Intelligent assistants can aid bankers in assembling complex structures while preserving their judgment. Managers gain access to live dashboards displaying pipeline health and profitability, and clients receive faster, clearer proposals that cater to their global needs.
The Path Forward
Banks adopting this approach are already witnessing measurable results. Streamlined workflows shorten the time-to-market, revenue leakage decreases when usage and commitments are tracked simultaneously, and clear, accessible rules improve pricing consistency. Consequently, clients perceive the bank as organised, responsive, and easy to work with.
The future of corporate banking, as seen in leading institutions, is connected, intelligent, and transparent. Banks that work towards this future will move faster and with more confidence, consistently pricing, proactively managing risk, and earning trust by delivering on precisely defined promises.
In both banking and travel, success is achieved by transforming scattered information into a coherent journey, one well-built deal at a time.
Balagopal Ravibalan is Head of Solution Consulting, SunTec Business Solutions
Source: Here
